Emphasis on Textiles Industry, Fiber Continues in Two New Exhibits

Quick Facts

The opening reception is Friday, Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the Rutledge Gallery. Nava Lubelski's "SelvEDGE" and Libby O'Bryan's "Factory Floor" will run concurrently through January 2013.

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Winthrop University Galleries continue to explore the impact of fiber and the textiles industry on society, culture and economics with two new exhibits this month, kicking off with an opening reception on Friday, Nov. 9.

The opening reception, which will be from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Rutledge and Elizabeth Dunlap Patrick galleries, introduces people to Nava Lubelski’s“SelvEDGE” and Libby O’Bryan’s “Factory Floor.” They will run concurrently Nov. 12-Jan. 18, 2013.

New York-to-Asheville, N.C., transplant Lubelski, known for her stitched work, will headline in the Rutledge Gallery. Lubelski samples old material pieces and transforms them into canvasses that almost appear as abstract paintings when the viewer takes a step back. She often incorporates holes and stains into her canvasses, contrasting between an object’s former usefulness and its new life as contemporary art. She uniquely uses traditional sewing techniques as she embroiders on used fabric, even over stains and rips.

Lubelski has been exhibited at the Museum of Arts & Design in Manhattan and most recently showed at museums in Greensboro, N.C., and Queens along with exhibitions in Berlin, Stockholm and Los Angeles. She has said that her work is all about contradictions and commonalities between the incline to destroy and the desire to mend or create.

Lubelski will give an artist talk 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15 in 119 Rutledge. It is a free cultural event.

Upstairs in the Patrick Gallery, Libby O’Bryan draws on the notion of labor with her interactive installation, “The Factory Floor.” As visitors walk through the gallery, they will step onto a palette floor engaging multiple sewing machines to run. Such an interactive environment involves the viewer in a way unlike other exhibits.

With degrees from The Fashion Institute of Technology and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, O’Bryan draws on her experience in apparel production to delve into the relationship between maker, machine and consumer. In the past, she has worked as a production manager for Gary Graham Collections, project manager for Local Industry and a curatorial assistant for Gestures of Resistance at The Museum of Modern Craft in Portland, Ore. She now calls Asheville home.

O’Bryan will give an artist talk 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29 in 119 Rutledge. It is a free cultural event.

For more information, call the Galleries at 803/323-2493 or e-mail Karen Derksen, Galleries director, at derksenk@winthrop.edu. Follow the Galleries online on Twitter.